Kalraj quits UP ministry over graft charges

Kalraj quits UP ministry over graft charges
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

LUCKNOW, APRIL 27: Uttar Pradesh's Public Works Department Minister Kalraj Mishra today took the House by surprise when he announced his resignation from the ministry over charges of corruption in transfers and postings of engineers levelled against him by Samajwadi Party MLA Babu Ram Yadav on Tuesday.

In political circles, Mishra's resignation is being seen as a deft move to get a clean chit from the House as the charges are unlikely to be proved. Observers say he has done this with an eye on the state's Chief Ministership.

Yesterday the issue had figured in the House and Yadav had said he was referring to the charges levelled by the president of the PWD Engineers Association, Ambika Prasad Mishra, in a letter written to the minister on September 1, 1999.

Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi has directed the administration to ask the association president to be present in the House at 1 pm tomorrow. He will decide on his course of action after hearing him.

Yesterday Mishra had at first said the association president had already apologised to him for making the allegations. Later, he said he had not yet received the letter and was merely referring to the report published in newspapers.

Yadav had appealed to the Chief Minister, who was present in the House at that time, to get the charges made in the letter probed. He had said Mishra should be sacked if the charges were found to be true or action should be taken against the association president. In the ensuing uproar, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Hukum Singh had intervened and described the charges against Mishra as baseless and being made by the MLA himself.

After hearing both sides, presiding officer Munna Singh Chauhan had closed the chapter. Today when Mishra stood up to clarify his position and submit his resignation, the Opposition members sought to know under what rules the minister had been allowed to clarify an issue which had been closed by the presiding officer yesterday. Chauhan ruled that ministers were free to clarify any issue and allowed Mishra to speak.

Mishra said he was deeply hurt by the charges and wanted these to be probed. ``For a fair probe I am resigning from the ministry,'' he announced and submitted his resignation to the Chief Minister. As the minister was going out of the House, he was mobbed by the BJP MLAs who asked him not to quit. Without giving any assurance, Mishra went to Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi's chamber.

Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta later said he had received the resignation but would not accept it as the charges were baseless .``Some elements are trying to destabilise his government because it has launched a tirade against the corrupt,'' he said. He, however, added that since the resignation had been announced in the House, it was up to the Speaker to decide.